ACT I, 2: UNMANLY GRIEF
King Claudius then reenters the conversation and makes a speech about mourning and grief
(starting on line 87). Claudius tells Hamlet that for a son to mourn the death of his father is a proper and fitting action, but then he adds that the son should do so “for some term” (91). Claudius is stating that there is a time limit as to how long one should mourn, and he is suggesting that Hamlet is going beyond that time limit.
The audiences’ evaluation of Hamlet may depend, in part, upon how much they agree with Claudius. On the one hand, Claudius does make a valid point: to spend too long a period of time in sadness and despair can only lead to the harm and ruin of oneself. But then again, what is the time limit for grief? Is it the same for everyone? One cannot always judge another by one’s own standards.
Claudius proceeds to tell Hamlet that excessive mourning and grief is unmanly and sinful (“impious” and “incorrect to heaven” – lines 94-95). Claudius also adds that it indicates a weak heart and a weak mind (line 96). Claudius is not ridiculing Hamlet. Rather, he is trying to push the prince back into reality. Claudius is attempting to get Hamlet to recognize the folly of his behavior. Claudius does not want the prince to wallow in or struggle with his depression any longer. Claudius does mean well.
In his argument, Claudius also adds that to hold on to one’s depression for too long a period of time is absurd and that such action goes against reason (line 103). Once again Shakespeare is inserting the familiar conflict of reason vs. emotion into his work. Claudius is attempting to argue against an emotional response (Hamlet’s depression) by using reason. Claudius is reasonable. His words do make sense. But as Shakespeare reveals time and again, reason is not as strong as emotion. Reason cannot cause emotion to disappear.
At the end of his speech, Claudius asks
Hamlet to stay in Denmark rather than to return to the University of Wittenberg in Germany (line 113). The reader should note that the University of Wittenberg was the greatest university in Europe during the Middle Ages. It is also the university that Faustus attends (in Christopher Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus). Many lords and princes went to Wittenberg to receive the best education available. Like Laertes, Hamlet intends to leave Denmark (theme of abandonment). However, when King Claudius and Queen Gertrude request that Hamlet give up this plan and stay in Denmark, Hamlet complies. Hamlet just does not seem to care much about anything. Whether he stays or goes is not all that important to him.
ACT I, 2: SULLIED FLESH OR SOLID FLESH
Hamlet’s first great speech (or soliloquy) appears in the second scene (at line 129). The speech is one of great despair and provides insight as to why Hamlet is experiencing such a severe depression. Hamlet’s despair is so great that he longs for death and considers suicide.
In the Folio version of the play, the speech begins with the following:
O that this too too solid flesh would melt. (129)
An earlier Quarto version of the play used the word sullied instead of solid. The word in the Quarto version means dirty, rotten, or even sinful. It is, perhaps, a better word to use than solid. As the play develops, another theme emerges, a theme on rottenness and decay. Denmark is a rotten and evil place to be, according to Hamlet; and the people living in Denmark are as sullied as the land. However, the word solid also fits the passage because, in most cases, a solid or hard object will not melt under ordinary conditions.
Hamlet is indeed wishing that his body would just melt away and turn into liquid (“dew” in line 130). Hamlet just wants to disappear, to become nothing. Hamlet’s speech is extremely existential. Existential literature typically develops the idea that life is meaningless or purposeless (whenever the word life or existence appears in a philosophical context in a literary text, the writer may very likely be introducing existentialism to his readers). Hamlet does indeed express the idea that the world is meaningless.
Hamlet, however, does not intend to commit suicide. He recognizes that God (“the Everlasting”) has established a law (“canon”) against suicide (“self-slaughter” – lines 131-32). Medieval Christians considered the human body as a gift from God. Therefore, they should not harm themselves in any manner. To do so would be to betray God, and such an act of treachery would be severely punished by God.
The fifth and sixth lines of the soliloquy clearly express Hamlet’s attitude about life and the world:
How weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable
Seem to me all the uses of the world. (133-34)
By the word uses Hamlet is indicating everything that happens in the world. Hamlet does not enjoy life and he sees no point in it.
Hamlet then employs several metaphors to further explain his opinion. The first metaphor is that of the “unweeded garden” (line 135). When Hamlet’s father was alive, the prince saw the world as a cultivated garden – as a garden that was well cared for and beautiful. All of the plants were arranged perfectly and grew splendidly. But now that Hamlet’s father is gone, the garden is no longer cared for. Weeds are growing wildly and strangling and killing all of the fine and beautiful plants. To Hamlet, one such weed is Claudius; and another is Gertrude.
The second metaphor (a double-metaphor actually) involves the mythological characters of Hyperion and a satyr. Hamlet contrasts his father to Claudius:
King Hamlet = Hyperion
King Claudius = a satyr
Hyperion was the ancient Greek god of the sun. He was a titan, a giant, large and magnificent. He would shine more brightly than all of the other gods. A satyr, on the other hand, was a mythological monster: half man and half goat. The satyrs were well known for always chasing maidens and nymphs (minor nature goddesses). The satyrs were figures that symbolized lust. Hamlet, then sees Claudius as a lowly and base individual who weakly gives in to his own sexual appetites.
With this second metaphor Hamlet has shifted directions in his speech. In the first part of his soliloquy, Hamlet is making general comments about life and the world. But in the second part, he is speaking in a specific manner about his own family.
From his father and uncle, Hamlet then proceeds to discuss his mother. One of the extremely famous lines from this speech sums up Hamlet’s opinion of her:
Frailty, thy name is woman. (146)
The word frailty means weakness, and Hamlet views women in general and his mother in particular as being extremely weak. Hamlet cannot see any reason or excuse for his mother lavishing her affections on the lowly satyr after having been married to the god of the sun, who adored her and worshipped her and performed miracles for her. Hamlet sees Gertrude’s marriage to Claudius as a betrayal to the memory of old King Hamlet.
Hamlet compares Gertrude to Niobe in a simile (line 149). Niobe was turned into stone after criticizing the gods Apollo and Artemis (Diana), but Niobe continued to weep even as a statue because the gods had also killed her fourteen children. Hamlet recalls that Gertrude cried like Niobe at the funeral of his father, but before a suitable period of time for mourning had passed, the tears quickly disappeared and she married Claudius. Hamlet then suggests that his mother is worse than an animal:
O God, a beast that wants discourse of reason
Would have mourned longer! (150-51)
In this passage the word wants means lacks. In other words, Gertrude’s action does not make sense. She does not seem to have any ability to reason at all. Dumb animals do not have the ability to reason, but Hamlet feels that even a dumb animal would have shown more feeling than did his mother.
Hamlet uses one other double-metaphor to describe Claudius: Claudius is “no more like my father than I to Hercules” (152-53):
King Claudius ≠ old King Hamlet
Prince Hamlet ≠ Hercules
Hamlet is not anything like Hercules, the great Greek hero who was a son of the god Zeus and who possessed superhuman strength. Similarly, Claudius is not anything like the old king. Hamlet is suggesting that, rather, Claudius is the opposite of his father.
The soliloquy concludes with Hamlet noting that the relationship between Claudius and Gertrude is one of incest. Hamlet believes that the consequences of this sin will be bad for Denmark. But Hamlet does not plan to take any action: “I must hold my tongue” (159). He intends just to remain quiet and suffer. Hamlet is a passive figure, not an active one.
After Hamlet delivers his soliloquy, he meets with Horatio. Horatio tells him about the ghost, and Hamlet agrees to join the guards that night to see the ghost for himself.
ACT I, 3: ADVICE AND MAXIMS
The third scene begins with a conversation between Laertes and his sister Ophelia. Laertes is soon to travel back to France. But, before he leaves, he wishes to give his sister some advice about her relationship with Prince Hamlet. Hamlet and Ophelia are close friends, and they are attracted to one another. In the past Hamlet has also given Ophelia numerous small gifts such as any man who woos (seeks attention and affection of a woman with the intention to marry) a woman might give. Laertes wants to warn Ophelia, though, that Hamlet is not free to choose the woman he is to marry. As a man who will one day become king, he must marry for political reasons. Therefore, Laertes warns his sister to be careful. She should protect her virtue and honor.
Ophelia tells Laertes that she will follow his advice. After Laertes warns Ophelia, Polonius, their father, enters. Polonius decides to give his son some advice before he leaves for France (lines 59-80). He then begins to make a number of suggestions as to how Laertes should behave himself while he is in France. Basically, he is telling Laertes to be careful and not to get involved in any foolish behavior. This speech, though, is actually something of a joke to Renaissance audiences. Polonius merely recites a series of maxims (proverbs or sayings) that were a part of a school textbook that nearly everyone would be familiar with. Schoolboys were often forced to memorize these maxims, and many men in the Renaissance audience would probably be able to say these lines along with Polonius. Shakespeare, however, has a very serious purpose for including such a joke in his play. Polonius is the trusted advisor of the king. He should be a man of clever intellect and originality. His quoting a schoolboy textbook indicates that he has no real wisdom of his own. And if Denmark’s chief advisor is not very wise, then that certainly does not bode well for Denmark. Hamlet may very well be right about the weeds taking over the garden.
Shakespeare continues to depict Polonius as something other than a wise man as the scene continues. After Laertes leaves, Polonius speaks to Ophelia about her relationship with Hamlet. Basically, Polonius is giving Ophelia the very same advice that Laertes had just given her. Ophelia nods her head politely and quietly as Polonius proceeds, but the audience would be laughing here. Polonius’s advice is too little and too late. A wise father would have spoken to his daughter much earlier. Polonius is a little slow. Shakespeare further depicts Polonius in a negative manner as the play progresses.
ACT I, 4: THE WASSAIL SPEECH
As Hamlet, Horatio, and the others are outside the castle waiting for the reappearance of the ghost, they hear the sound of trumpets blaring and cannons blasting. Horatio asks Hamlet what the noise means. Hamlet explains that the king “keeps wassail” that night (line 10). The word wassail has a double meaning here: it refers to spiced wine or ale, and it also refers to drinking and celebrating an occasion. The king is celebrating his marriage or coronation (being crowned king) by getting drunk, dancing, and making toasts (making pledges by drinking to the honor of someone or something). Every time the king drinks a cup of wine, the trumpets sound and the cannons roar. The wassail celebration is a noisy and wild occasion that Hamlet finds to be extremely embarrassing to his nation.
Horatio asks if such wild celebration is a custom, and Hamlet responds that it is a custom which he does not care for:
… though I am native here
And to the manner born, it is a custom More honoured in the breach than the observance. (16-18)
The word manner refers to custom or tradition. Hamlet suggests that such wassailing has been a long tradition in his royal family. However, Hamlet believes that Denmark and his family would act more honorably if they did not celebrate in such a fashion (by breach Hamlet means to break away from or to stop such an activity). In a subtle way, Hamlet is stating that the tradition should end because it is dishonorable.
Hamlet explains that the wassail tradition has given Denmark a bad reputation. No matter what positive contributions the Danes have made and given to the world, other nations pay more attention to their one fault rather than their many achievements. The Danes, according to Hamlet, have a reputation of being “drunkards” (line 18.3).
Hamlet then proceeds to use a metaphor to
further explain his view concerning this tradition. Hamlet compares Denmark to a man (starting in line 18.7). A man may have one particular fault or vice (“mole of nature” in line 18.8 or “stamp of one defect” in line 18.15) but many virtues or admirable qualities (line 18.17). However, society – other people – will judge that man by the one fault. People tend to overlook or ignore the good in a person and see only the negative. Hamlet, in this speech, is not only criticizing the wassailing custom, he is also criticizing society (social criticism). He (and Shakespeare) is making a wise observation about how most people in society tend to be negative and judge others too harshly and too unfairly. People can be rather cruel. To Hamlet, these cruel people are weeds in the garden.
ACT I, 4: SOMETHING ROTTEN
After the wassail speech in the fourth scene, the ghost reappears. The ghost calls to Hamlet, for he wants to speak to Hamlet alone. Despite his fears, Hamlet follows the ghost. However, Hamlet realizes that he must be cautious: the ghost could be either “a spirit of health or a goblin damned” (21). In other words, the ghost could be the actual spirit of Hamlet’s dead father; or it could be a devil or demon who has magically disguised itself to look like the old king. During the Middle Ages and Renaissance, people believed that a ghost could be either of these.
At the end of the fourth scene, the guard Marcellus declares, “Something is rotten in the state of Denmark” (67). This is another famous line from the play. Marcellus is stating that the ghost is an omen that indicates that something terrible or evil has happened or will happen in Denmark. However, the line also contributes to the theme concerning decay and rottenness. Denmark and most of the people in it are also rotten – in a spiritual or moral sense. That is Hamlet’s view about his own land, but such a view might also have been held by
Shakespeare about England.
ACT I, 5: THE GHOST DEMANDS
VENGEANCE
The ghost holds a private conversation with Hamlet in the last scene. The ghost hints that the afterlife (“prison-house” in line 14) is unpleasant and horrifying, but he is forbidden to reveal any details about it. The reference to the afterlife is certainly not a Christian one. Rather, it is more like a pagan Anglo-Saxon belief, vague and frightening. The use of the expression prison-house (instead of hell or afterlife) is like an Anglo-Saxon kenning (a poetic compound word). It further contributes to a fearful notion of life after death, which many ancient and medieval people had.
When a person experiences the death of a close loved one, that person may find himself or herself wondering about and questioning the existence of God and Heaven. Hamlet lost his father. Shakespeare had lost his son. Shakespeare too would have had doubts and fears about what the afterlife would hold. And such doubts and fears are reflected in this play.
The Anglo-Saxons of pagan times concerned themselves more with life than the afterlife. To them, one’s honor a